“Get Them On The List!”
An ancient blue gum on a 50m stretch on a dead-end gravel road in the backblocks of Beaudesert, has been considered a visual hindrance to local traffic.
An independent risk accessor acting for the SRRC’s Engineering Dept, tasked with upgrading the road, said it had to go.
The council arborist said that the tree was fine and healthy.
According to National Parks Ranger, Wil Buck, with his 35 years experience in the area, the tree is an important wildlife habitat, visited by the threatened glossy black cockatoos, who use the hollow limbs for breeding and the endangered koalas who are regularly seen in residence there.
Locals who had met with Cr Moriarty Div. 3, said that they wanted the tree to remain where it was. Only one wanted it gone as it dropped branches. However, after two stop-work orders, the ancient blue gum that has survived at Cainbable Creek Road, Kerry, for 4-500 years, was deemed to be a hazard to the twelve residences accessing that road.
The local wildlife, who called it their home, were not consulted.
Already struggling to survive, our koala is now classified as endangered.
(In December 2021, the conservation status of the Koala In (NSW, ACT and QLD combined populations) was changed from Vulnerable to Endangered, 14 Nov 2022 https://www.)australianwildlife.org
The glossy black cockatoo are hard put to find a home to raise a family. “… a major threat to the survival of the glossy black-cockatoo is habitat loss – the loss of mature eucalypts for nest hollows.” 17 Feb 2022 https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au.
How can this destruction be justified? Why wasn’t the Environmental Dept left to decide? Apparently we don’t have one! The fate of this tree has created a discussion that could lead to a better understanding and protection for our trees.
According to Wil Buck, speaking as a resident, “We need SRRC to come up with an environmental policy. We could conduct a workshop to identify significant flora in the region and define what is significant”, he says, “The Blue Gums that are growing throughout the Rim are endangered. They are Winter flowering and the flowers produce feed for koalas.
“Get them on the list!” Wil says, “We have no floral emblem for the Scenic Rim!”
“A heritage tree register is required to identify and protect them and create a definite regulation for council to act on. The need to preserve old growth trees in particular is crucial as they can’t be readily replaced.”
A recent workshop at Council run by ‘Watergum’ received positive support from council’s head of Planning Section and our local wildlife officer, Catherine.
Watergum is a NFP group of volunteers from Springbrook who are working to protect and educate us about the environment.
You don’t have to be Green to appreciate the importance of a single tree. The benefits provided not only to wild life but the stabilising affect it has on the Earth, the purification of oxygen in the air and the cooling affect it has on surroundings.
On Tamborine Mountain there are many trees beside the roads. The locals and tourists have been using these roads for over one hundred years, coming in their millions, and have managed to go round the trees.
We would welcome the SRRC taking positive action to set an environmental policy where trees are recognised for their value and have rights.
A permit should be required for the removal of any tree, of a certain age and circumference.
Where is the priority? We need to start being responsible humans.
We need to see the value of trees as a benefit to all!
Photos & Story By Julie Wilkinson